The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or grad school search.
Going to school online can be the most cost-efficient way to get a degree for some students. There are no room and board fees or costly expenses for a commuter’s car maintenance.
Attending school in-state is usually less expensive than attending a school outside of the region, but in some instances the reverse scenario may be true.
[Ask these five financial questions before getting an online degree.]
At Valley City State University in North Dakota, out-of-state students paid just $172 per credit and needed 120 credits to graduate during 2015-2016, U.S. News data show. The university offered the lowest total cost of education for nonlocal students — $20,640 — among the 128 public online schools that submitted data to U.S. News in an annual survey.
To put things in perspective, a prospective online student from Texas, for example, could pay more to learn at the public Texas Tech University — $26,400 for the total cost — than to attend school as a nonlocal student at Valley City State.
[Follow these tips for using student loans for online education.]
Online programs typically charge students by the credit instead of by the semester, as is common for brick-and-mortar programs, and students usually come in with a few credits already earned .
At the 11 least expensive institutions for out-of-state online undergrads, the average total cost was $24,593.45.
The most expensive school for students who don’t live in the state was Central Washington University. It charged $657 per credit and required students to complete at least 180 credits to graduate in 2015-2016, making the total cost of a degree $118,260.
[See photos of the top 20 Best Online Bachelor’s Programs.]
Below is a list of the undergraduate online programs where out-of-state students had the lowest total cost during the 2015-2016 school year. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be ranked, were not considered for this report.
| School name (state) | Out-of-state cost per credit | Credits needed to graduate | Out-of-state total program cost | U.S. News rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valley City State University (ND) | $172 | 120 | $20,640 | 143 (tie) |
| Fort Hays State University (KS) | $194 | 124 | $24,056 | 24 (tie) |
| University of Alaska–Fairbanks | $202 | 120 | $24,240 | 164 (tie) |
| University of Texas of the Permian Basin | $203 | 120 | $24,360 | 92 (tie) |
| Mayville State University (ND) | $205 | 120 | $24,600 | 205 (tie) |
| Lamar University (TX) | $208 | 120 | $24,960 | 58 (tie) |
| Wichita State University (KS) | $202 | 124 | $25,048 | 159 (tie) |
| Minot State University (ND) | $211 | 120 | $25,320 | 191 (tie) |
| Georgia Southern University (GA) | $204 | 126 | $25,704 | 114 (tie) |
| Marshall University (WV) | $215 | 120 | $25,800 | RNP* |
| Sam Houston State University (TX) | $215 | 120 | $25,800 | 72 (tie) |
* RNP denotes an institution that is ranked in the bottom one-fourth of its ranking category. U.S. News calculates a rank for the school but has decided not to publish it.
School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.
U.S. News surveyed 300 public, private and for-profit schools for our 2016 Best Online Bachelor’s Programs rankings. Schools reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News’ data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of these survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Online Bachelor’s Programs rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. These data are specific to schools’ online bachelor’s degree program offerings and have no influence over U.S. News’ Best Colleges rankings assessing traditional bachelor’s programs. The tuition data above are correct as of Jan. 12, 2016.
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U.S. News Data: Online Education Isn’t Always Cheap
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Low-Cost Public Online Bachelor’s Programs for Out-of-State Students originally appeared on usnews.com
